Comelec Chair Andres Bautista has proposed to lawmakers that they review the Recall Election Law, arguing that local government officials’ term of three years is too short to be subjected to such a mechanism.
“If you only have a three-year term and you will still be subjected to a recall… maybe we should think about a new term. Should there still be a recall to a three-year term?” asked Bautista, speaking at a forum in Manila on Wednesday.
“I think a three-year term is too short,” he added.
Bautista cited as an example the recently concluded recall polls in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, as proof of the impracticality of the present law.
He noted that the recall election for mayor of Puerto Princesa was held only on May 8, and exactly a year later, there will be another election there for the position.
Section 74 of Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government Code, provides that “no recall elections shall take place within one year from the date of the official’s assumption to office.”
Similarly, it states that there can be no recall elections within “one year immediately preceding a regular local election.”–Tina G. Santos